Eliane has her say.

Last June, I published a post on Peru's controversial ex-First Lady Eliane Karp and her role in an international dispute over the ownership of various Inca artifacts excavated at Machu Picchu early in the last century. The wife of Peru's first indigenous president, Alejandro Toledo, the French-born Karp embraced indigenous causes and traditions in a manner that many Peruvians found crass and somewhat patronizing. As detailed in a New York Times Magazine article from last year, Karp was especially adamant that in demanding the return to Peru of various artifacts taken from Machu Picchu in 1912 by American explorer Hiram Bingham and now held by Yale University. After lengthy negotiations, Yale and the Peruvian government have apparently come close to a final agreement for the return of the artifacts.

In a New York Times op-ed published today, Eliane Karp expresses her displeasure with the proposed agreement. Basically, Karp seems to be unhappy that Yale won't hand over the artifacts immediately and that the university is expected to play a role in curating a museum that will be built to display the items when they return to Peru. I haven't been following this affair closely and don't really have an opinion on it. Since my earlier post on Eliane Karp has gotten a lot of hits, I figured I should give the former First Lady equal time now that she has made a public statement on the Peru-Yale controversy. To those who continue to reach this blog by way of Google searches for "Eliane Karp" and related terms, I extend a happy welcome. AMDG.